jumpinjimmy

I've just re-installed my injection system and did a valve adjustment (replaced all the necessary stuff for the typical oil leaks associated with "triangle of death"). I'm still getting a drip that's coming from the forward, driver's side of the engine and dropping off the cooling fins near the front of the bottom valve cover. Any ideas where this could be coming from???

By the way, my car is running much better now that I've taken care of the vacuum leaks but I'm convinced the WUR needs rebuilding.

The Brewmeister

Is the engine mounted oil cooler mounted on that side?

rusnak

Could be a valve cover leak.

jumpinjimmy

not a valve cover leak. just changed the gaskets, as explained in post. It's not the oil cooler either, that's on the other side. But it is coming from the front of the engine and settling on the cooling fins of the heads and creating a drop right at the very front corner of the cooling fin, just before it meets the valve cover.

theiceman

That's a tricky one. Could be a couple of things I have my engine apart and found the cap on the end of the cam tower leaking. Opposite end of chain box Without dropping my engine and removing tin work I never would have found it. Point is there are all kinds of places it could leak from Cam tower seal to heads Oil return tubes is common Base gasgets Even vc gasgets. Even though they are new they can still leak if not torqued properly or cover not completely flat

jumpinjimmy

thanks Iceman. Definitely not the valve covers. Cam tower cap sounds possible. I don't think it's the oil return tubes because it's right at the corner of the heads and too far out to the edge to be the base gaskets. Is the end cap of the cam tower something that can be tightened? with the engine in the car even?? Here's a pic of that dreadful drip.

theiceman

no the cap is pressed in and can not even be accessed in the car. i will shoot you pic tonight when i get home. i pulled the tinwork off and saw all this fresh oil , and there it was pooled in the cap . Not even sure how i am going to fix it yet.

jumpinjimmy

I look forward to seeing that pick, Iceman. It would seem that the rocker arm shaft is also a likely suspect.

theiceman

that is a VERY likely spot . You can get seals ( RSR seals ) to prevent that .. but getting a rocker shaft in and out with the engine in the car can be tricky. Depending which one it is of course.

Mine was leaking from this big end cap and running down the back .. but if you look carefully there are all kinds of plugs it could be leaking from .

jumpinjimmy

wow, I might have to live with the drip for now. Thanks for that photo. Really interesting to see the cam tower cap, which I didn't even know existed until you mentioned it!

jumpinjimmy

Ok, here's the conundrum. 24 hours after driving the car, not one single drop of oil under it. 48 hours: a small puddle under the left bank, just missing the outside edge of the driver's side heat exchanger. Why would it take 48 hours for oil to drop? Also, I have a look under the car occassionally after having driven it somewhere and no oil under it, so it's only after the car has sat for a couple of days does oil show up.

rusnak

You may notice that after driving the car regularly, leaks stop. The car will leak more in the beginning of the driving season. I have even resorted to tapping on the cam tower with a plastic mallet to get the gaskets to re-seat and stop leaking oil.

I say this with over half a million miles on 911s as daily drivers. I suggested earlier that oil leaks stop and received criticism over it, but it's true. They sometimes just stop.

theiceman

Rus do you know if there is any type of check valve to stop the tank draining back into the sump ?

jumpinjimmy

when I did the valve adjustment, I drained out the sump and there seemed to be about 3.5 litres of oil that came out, so not sure if it's overfilling the sump after sitting, but I'd be curious to know if there is a check valve.

theiceman

I'm not sure I get that much out but that may be correct
Could it be filling the crankcase and leaking out of the oil return tube seals ?